Professor

Dominic Rhodes: Colts Comfortable With Him as Starter?
RotoWire.com Staff - RotoWire.com
Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Update: Colts President Bill Polian says the Colts may not take a running back with a high draft pick and are comfortable with Rhodes as their starter heading into next season, the team's official web site.

Recommendation: Is this just pre-draft posturing by Polian? Still, he left the door open that the Colts may take a running back in a later round and have Rhodes compete or share the job with a rookie. If the Colts don't take a high-profile running back, Rhodes could see his fantasy value surge this summer.

Updated on Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 5:37 pm EDT

UCFNoleFan

When I see this, all I think is that means a RB is there first round pick, I never believe anything I see the months before the draft.

Professor

The colts have a complicated offense with manning calling audibles and different protections from the backs. Rhodes knows the offense well and if I were a team that was poised to make a SB run, would I trust a rookie that is trying to learn the offense or trust a guy that has had success in the offense and has been there for several years. Being that Dungy is a smart coach, I think that he would rather play rhodes,even if he does draft a back, at least while the back is learning the complex offense that the colts run.

Professor

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...604170401/1100

Seizing his opportunity
Rhodes plans to capitalize on his chance to replace James as the Colts' top back

By Mike Chappell
mike.chappell@indystar.com
Dominic Rhodes made a strong first impression in 2001 as Edgerrin James' temporary replacement.

Breaking loose: Colts running back Dominic Rhodes (right) gets past Texans defenders at Houston in an Indy victory in October 2005. - MATT KRYGER / The Star

The prevailing question is whether the Indianapolis Colts' perennial backup running back can make a lasting impression in '06 as James' successor.
"I'm ready to go out there and roll,'' Rhodes said. "I'm ready to help this team reach what we didn't reach last year.
"I'm getting ready to have a very productive season and show everybody who thinks because Edge is gone we're going to have a vulnerable spot at running back, (show) that I'm here to stay.''
There's no question opportunity is knocking for a second time in Rhodes' NFL career. It's a direct result of the Colts allowing James, an offensive cornerstone since 1999 and their career rushing leader, to hit the free agent market, where he signed a four-year, $30 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals.
The latest opportunity for Rhodes comes five years after the first. When James suffered a season-ending knee injury at Kansas City in the sixth game of the 2001 season, Rhodes responded by rushing for 1,104 yards and nine touchdowns, NFL records for an undrafted rookie. He played collegiately at Midwestern State in Wichita Falls, Texas.
"He's an explosive guy and when he got to carry the ball a lot in '01, he put up some big numbers,'' coach Tony Dungy said.
That occasion, though, was temporary. James would return, and regain his form and spot in the backfield.
This is more permanent. James is gone for good.
The fate of the Colts' ground game, and by extension their potent offense, rests in the hands of Rhodes. Or someone else. Even though management displayed its faith in Rhodes by paying him a $1.45 million roster bonus due in March, the Colts could still use the 30th overall pick in the April 29 draft on a running back. Also, don't rule out the acquisition of a veteran free agent if one's available, and affordable, prior to training camp.
"That's fine,'' Rhodes said. "Competition is what it's all about. With me working hard and the talent I've been blessed with, it will be hard for anybody to flat-out beat me out at running back.''
His optimism aside, Rhodes didn't exactly provide strong evidence in 2005 that he was the man capable of replacing James.
He admitted allowing a lack of playing time on offense -- just 40 carries, including five or fewer in 11 of 13 appearances -- to affect his attitude and performance. Rhodes averaged 3.0 yards per rush and 20.9 yards on 41 kickoff returns, each career lows.
"It was a combination of things; frustration, things like that,'' he said. "It was a year I really don't like to (dwell) on a lot. I didn't have as much fun as I usually have with football.
"Just not playing at running back, I let that bother me. I wasn't the same guy. To be totally honest, I was cheating myself, cheating my teammates, just cheating a lot of people by not being as much of a team player as I should have been.''
Yet the Colts decided to reinvest in him.
"He's a guy we have confidence in,'' Dungy said. "It's now a point of seeing what he can do getting more carries. We're excited about that possibility. He's definitely a guy we feel we can win with.''
Quarterback Peyton Manning described James as irreplaceable, but remained optimistic the Colts "will make the best out of the situation."
Until Rhodes proves he can replace James, skeptics will remain. Along with limited productivity since his rookie season, there is a durability issue. Rhodes' reconstructed right knee no longer is a concern, but he occasionally has missed time with a chronic shoulder problem. The latter, he said, was addressed by surgery prior to last season.
Rhodes understands fans might be leery of him being able to bear the weight of the Colts' ground game.
"When you lose a guy like Edge, everybody questions what's going on,'' he said. "That's why I'm going to let my play do the talking. Edge always said, 'I've got my game in the bag and I'm ready to bring it every week.' That's what's going to happen. I'm going to go out there and show 'em what's up.''

Successor candidates

If Edgerrin James' successor as running back for the Colts is currently on the roster, he's one of these four players. Included is each player's career games/starts and rushing statistics:
Player G/S Att. Yards Avg. TDs
Dominic Rhodes 55/11 363 1,633 4.5 14
James Mungro 43/1 133 430 3.2 10
Kory Chapman 3/0 0 0 0 0
Vashon Pearson 0/0 0 0 0 0

Tracking Rhodes

Here's how Dominic Rhodes' rookie season with the Colts in 2001 compares with his next four seasons.
2001 2002-05
Games/Starts 15/10 40/1*
Attempts 233 130
Yards 1,104 529
Average 4.7 4.1
Rushing TDs 9 5
100+yard games 5 0

* -- missed '02 season with knee injury.

Professor

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?...nfl&id=2429045

Colts likely to feature 2 runners in 2006
Associated Press
National Football League News Wire

INDIANAPOLIS -- The loss of Edgerrin James and the lack of a premier running back as his replacement could alter the Indianapolis Colts offensive scheme, with two runners sharing the bulk of carries.

Little-used backup Dominic Rhodes heads into camp as the No. 1 back for Indianapolis, but first-round draft pick Joseph Addai will be brought into the offense quickly, beginning with three-day minicamp starting Friday.

"He and Dominic will probably share time. At least, that's the way we see it now," said team president Bill Polian, who made the 214-pound rookie from LSU the first running back taken by the Colts in the first round since James in 1999.

"You wouldn't expect a rookie to step into a team like this ... a team that has been winning big," Polian said. "You'd expect him to play some but not have to carry the whole load. We've been spoiled here. We see this as a two-man position now."

When James was out in 2001, Rhodes established himself with Indianapolis, becoming the first undrafted rookie in NFL history to rush for at least 1,000 yards. After James returned, Rhodes played sparingly as his backup.

Now, with James off to Arizona as a free agent, Rhodes and Addai -- who had relatively few carries in college as part of an LSU offense loaded with runners -- should see increased workloads.

"My whole thing is when I get my opportunity, I need to take advantage of it," Addai said. "I don't know how the situation is going to be, but going into practices, I'll go in just trying to compete with everybody else and give 100 percent. At the end of the day, I'll feel good about that."

The minicamp, coach Tony Dungy said, is not necessarily to establish the pecking order at any position.

"The big thing we're going to be with Joseph, and all of these guys, is just to get them information and get them comfortable with what we do, get them so they know what we do," Dungy said. "They're good enough players, all of them, once they know what's going on, they'll be able to let their light shine. ... We'll have a lot of time to get them ready."

The Colts drafted cornerback Tim Jennings of Georgia in the second round, linebacker Freddie Keiaho of San Diego State in the third round, offensive tackle Michael Toudouze of Texas Christian in the fifth round, offensive Charlie Johnson of Oklahoma State and defensive back Antoine Bethea of Howard in the sixth round and cornerback-kick returner T.J. Rushing of Stanford in the seventh round.

"It's a good group in a lot of ways," Dungy said. "We're always trying to increase our speed and our toughness, and I think we've done that."

The Colts picked late in each round -- thanks to their NFL-best 14-2 record last season -- but Polian was pleased with the way the draft unfolded.

"We'll see how it plays out the next nine months or so," he said. "I've always believed if you make the picks for the right reasons, your odds of success increase markedly. ... Let's face it, this business is not science, it's an art. We're happy with the guys we got, now we'll be aggressive in pursuing free agents."

J-Unit

Looks to me as Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai are the front-runners for the starting job. I think they will split carries this year in Indy. I really like Indy taking Addai. He is a great blocker and a good reciever out of the backfield which gives Manning another weapon. I really think he will fit well into the Colts style of offense. You also have to look at James Mungro. He did a real good job filling in for Edge when he was hurt a while back.

Professor

another fantasy nightmare RBBC, they will split time, mungro will take some carries around the goalline. I hate two headed running back teams.

MickeyG

i hate RBBC, Minnesota tried to use it after Smith left and it failed miserably and i think the Colts could be looking at the same type of outcome.

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pumzy

RBBC isn't always terrible, it just needs to be used by a coach who knows how to use it. look at the MN gophers in college football. maroney and barber EACH had multiple 1000 yard seasons while sharing the backfield. granted, college is different than the nfl, but the principle is the same - you know how and when to use each back, it can still work to your benefit.

btw, the reason it didn't work for the vikes is cuz they haven't really even had ONE guy capable of being a featured back since smith left. IMO for RBBC to be effective, you need to have 2 backs with 1st string qualities

J-Unit

Yeh I mean I have seen it work before. Think about it Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, Willie Parker and Jerome Bettis, and Travis Henry and Willis McGahee. None of those had explosive years but most definetely got the job done.